When everyone came back to their senses and looked away from the corpses of the monsters that would never move again, they realized that the world around them was not at all what they were familiar with.

The shrine is still the poor sour shrine, and the courtyard is still the one covered with stone slabs, and Yakumo Zi also judged from this that she didn't find the wrong place. However, the flowers, grasses, trees, and trees that were wild outside the yard all changed...... No, it's not just "changed", in fact, this pile of "things" is not a plant at all.

They were meat, pink, soft, warm, slimy, wriggling, beating, even dripping with blood, flesh.

Flesh-made roots, flesh-made stems, flesh-made leaves, clusters of twisted flesh, fill the soil. Aside from their general shape and location, they have nothing in common with the greenery that originally grew there, but these two points make one have to connect the two, wonder if these strange flesh plants are transformed from normal plants, and then go one step further to think about the connection between those "hound" monsters and normal hounds.

Reimu even felt a lot of sight, as if she was on a stage where everyone was looking at her. It made her think that the flesh plants were sentient, and she did find evidence to prove it. When she looked over, she saw that the plants that had not grown in this direction had also, before she knew it, had reversed course and were spying on her with their shredded "stamens". The deep socket where the four "petals" intersected looked like a hollow black eyeball, and no matter what it could "see", Reimu could only feel the deepest malice in it—which made her shudder.

In the sky, a red moon hung high. Compared to the moon of the past, even the Mid-Autumn Festival, this red moon is unusually large and bright, almost like a small sun, dyeing the sky and earth into an unsettling blood red. From the blood-colored moonlight, Reimu sensed a huge energy fluctuation. This restless energy spread into the air with the light of the red moon. Somehow, Reimu always smelled blood, as if this moonlight smelled too.

When she looked up at the moon, she immediately felt a strong sense of dizziness, and the longer she looked at it, the more dazzling the red moon's brilliance became, and the more blurred her consciousness became, as if her whole soul was about to be sucked in. Before her head could fill up with red, she hurriedly looked away, shook her increasingly muddy head, and banished the evil thing that had slowly invaded her brain, whatever it was.

The red moon, as a rare celestial phenomenon, exists in nature. However, the red of this round of the moon is obviously not a natural red, and from beginning to end, it exudes only one breath:

Evil.

If the clear glow of the bright moon is a blessing that makes all things born under it more beautiful, then the turbid glow of the red moon is probably a curse. As for the living creatures cursed by it......

"They've mutated. ”

Nalan twilight stepped out of the crowd and came to the black earth on the edge of the courtyard, holding out her finger at a mutated flesh bush. I saw several slender musculature like frog tongues, piercing out of the "branches" of the "bush" at the moment when his fingers approached, aiming at his fingertips, but letting him withdraw and dodge when he was about to hit. The whole process is like the predation process of some strange insectivorous creature, but everyone present knows that this is not an entertaining animal world show.

This is an anomaly.

Moreover, unlike the previous mutations, this time, it is not just the level of "casual play".

"The body of a creature bathed in this moonlight will be mutated. Nalan turned around, faced everyone, and said:

"Among all of you here, are there any ordinary humans who have neither magic, nor special abilities, or even physical training?"

"Yes...... Yes!"

Motoi Xiaosuzu slowly raised her hand and looked at Nalan Twilight with trepidation. Standing beside her was the solemn barnyard field Aqiu.

"Reimu!" Nalan turned his head and shouted at Reimu:

"You know what to do, right?"

"Don't dictate to me!"

Reimu glared at him, then took out four pieces of rune paper and held them high. The four spells flew to the four corners of the courtyard and stuck to the ground, and suddenly four almost transparent barriers rose from the ground, and finally closed in the air more than ten meters high, forming a complete protective barrier. This enchantment not only protected Xiao Ling and Ah Qiu, but also covered the entire courtyard and everyone in the courtyard. Through a layer of enchantment, the heart-wrenching red moon seemed less terrifying, and the smell of blood in the air was slightly lighter.

"You can't prevent physical attacks, but if you stay inside, you're safe...... Probably......" Reimu said, "Who knows what's going to happen next, so let's be blessed!"

"What will happen next is actually very simple," Nalan said in response to her words, "we either win this war, or we can die, or we may not live or die." ”

"This moonlight transforms all living beings, animals, plants, insects, microorganisms, everything. Mutation is irreversible, and once it is completed, there is only death, which can bring relief to the mutant. Mutated creatures lose their minds and minds, gaining greater physical abilities and aggression. The 'dogs' just now, they were just ordinary stray dogs, and those flesh and blood plants used to be green. ”

"Wait, you said 'all living things?'" Marisa's eyes widened as she asked him, "including humans?"

"Of course, including humans, or else?" Nalan Twilight said in a flat tone, "And, not just humans, it can also affect youkai, magicians, vampires, half-human, half-spirit swordsmen, and maids who can manipulate time. In other words, none of you here will be able to escape...... Except for Yuyuko, the undead are not living creatures and cannot mutate. ”

"The Man's ......"

Marisa stopped talking, but everyone knew what she was trying to say.

Look at the dead dogs on the ground, look at the twisted flesh and blood, if a large number of humans living in the town have also undergone such mutations, it will be hell on earth.

If that's the case, I'm afraid there won't be any need to fight, right? After all, Gensokyo will be completely destroyed......

"I'll tell you good news!" Nalan said.

"The law of transformation is very simple, there is only one rule, and that is that the more powerful the creature, the slower the change. ”

"Microorganisms, insects, and plants will mutate as soon as they are exposed to the moonlight. ”

"Then my flower field ......" Kazami Yuka's voice trembled, reaching Nalan Yuxiang's ears, and he turned his head and said to her with a smile:

"There are no more flower fields, let's mourn and change!"

Yuxiang blushed and lowered her head. Seeing her like this, Nalan Yu felt inexplicably refreshed, even though he understood that it was not kind and correct.

"Small animals, rats, geckos, sparrows, etc., can resist for a few minutes. Nalan then said to the crowd, "Larger animals, such as cats and dogs, will take at least an hour. The mutant dogs we saw just now should have just mutated. ”

"Larger beasts, wolves, tigers, bears, etc., will take hours - they shouldn't have mutated yet, but there's a high chance they'll be killed by mutated creatures. ”

"For humans, it takes a full 12 hours. Beings that are stronger than normal humans take longer, depending on their strength. But no matter how strong the strength is, as long as you have 'life' and continue to be exposed to this moonlight, it will eventually mutate, but it is only a matter of time. ”

"Ten...... Twelve hours......" Marisa breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, "It's okay, it's okay, I thought I couldn't save ......"

"Don't rejoice too early, the moon won't go down even in daylight. No, it should be said that there will be no daylight at all, and if the mutation is not resolved, this red moon will always hang there. Nalan glanced up at the sky and continued, "I'm dull in my senses in this area, but I have experience. I think you've all noticed it, and the sky ......."

"It's an enchantment. Yakumo interrupted him and said, "A huge barrier clings to the inside of the Hakurei Great Barrier, covering the entire Gensokyo. I could feel its presence, there had never been anything in Gensokyo that had such a strong presence. ”

"Yes, as the Yokai Sage said. Nalan continued, "So there is no sky, and there is no real sun, moon and stars, and what you see when you look up is just an illusion created by magic. This red moon is nothing more than a source of great magical power. But there's one thing, Yakumo Murasaki, I need to correct you a little bit......"

"It's not an enchantment. ”

"This is 'Gu'. ”

"Gu?" Marisa tilted her neck, looking half-understood. The word, for her, was obviously very new.

"This is a Gu used to cultivate a 'murder weapon', and this is not the first time it has appeared in the human world. "The last time was 1,200 years ago, and the same red moon was full of abominable flesh and blood. Do you know why I know so much, and I can tell you so much about this 'Gu'?"

"Because I'm the only survivor of the catastrophe 1,200 years ago. ”